pH-responsive bufadienolides nanocrystals decorated by chitosan quaternary ammonium salt for treating colon cancer

Recent developments in the biomedical and anticancer applications of chitosan derivatives

Chitosan is a natural polymer derived from chitin. It has significant applications in various fields due to its unique physicochemical properties, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. These important properties of chitosan make it an attractive candidate for various anti-cancer activities and biomedical applications, including tissue engineering. This review emphasizes the latest literature on anticancer applications of chitosan derivatives and in-depth study of biomedical applications. This review highlights the importance of biomedical applications and anti-cancer activities like breast, liver, colon, gastric, melanoma, colorectal, cervical, oral, and lymphoma cancer. Currently, there is a notable absence of recent reviews that comprehensively address these aspects such as Alejandro Elizalde-Cárdenas, et al. 2024, focuses only on Biomedical applications of Cs and its derivatives (Elizalde-Cárdenas et al., 2024). Jingxian Ding, et al. 2022 discussed the applications of Cs in some Cancer treatments (Mabrouk et al., 2024). However, our article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the latest advancements in Cs derivatives in both fields. This manuscript is designed with proper diagrams, flow sheets and summarized tables to enhance the understanding of the reader. It also highlights recent advancements in the development of various chitosan derivatives, offering a comprehensive perspective for researchers and practitioners to further progress in biomedical and anticancer technologies.

Superior remedy colon cancer HCT-116 cells via new chitosan Schiff base nanocomposites: Synthesis and characterization

Cancer is a serious worldwide health problem and colon cancer is the major cancer public prevailing form. The innovative pharmaceuticals with great cancer efficacy are metal nanoparticles. Therefore, the present study relies on developing chitosan Schiff base nanocomposites and investigating their antitumor ability against human colon carcinoma (HCT-116 cell line) using the MTT method. Thus, chitosan (CS) is modified with 9-ethyl-3-carbazolecarboxaldehyde (ECCA) in the absence or presence of the biomedical crosslinker poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether (PEGDGE) under microwave irradiation to afford CS-Schiff bases CS-SB-I and CS-SB-II, respectively. The assembly method is applied to formulate CS-Schiff base (Ag, Au and ZnO) nanocomposites. These new CS-Schiff bases and their nanocomposites are characterized by utilizing elemental analysis, FTIR, TGA, XRD, SEM, TEM and EDX. Cytotoxicity test showed that CS-SB-I (IC50 112.10 ± 4.23 μg/mL) and CS-SB-II (IC50 98.54 ± 4.09 μg/mL) inhibit the growth of HCT-116 more effectively than chitosan (IC50 181.38 ± 6.54 μg/mL). Additionally, CS-Schiff base nanocomposites revealed superior anticancer efficiency which displayed the lowest IC50 values CS-SB-I-Ag (IC50 10.99 ± 0.37 μg/mL), CS-SB-II-Ag (IC50 12.79 ± 0.49 μg/mL), CS-SB-I-Au (IC50 14.96 ± 0.51 μg/mL), CS-SB-II-Au (IC50 26.72 ± 1.57 μg/mL), CS-SB-I-ZnO (IC50 22.79 ± 1.28 μg/mL) and CS-SB-II-ZnO (IC50 22.24 ± 1.34 μg/mL). The findings demonstrated that CS-Schiff base nanocomposites are promising agents for the HCT-116 cell therapeutic.

Current Advances of Nanomaterial-Based Oral Drug Delivery for Colorectal Cancer Treatment

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common malignant tumor, and traditional treatments include surgical resection and radiotherapy. However, local recurrence, distal metastasis, and intestinal obstruction are significant problems. Oral nano-formulation is a promising treatment strategy for CRC. This study introduces physiological and environmental factors, the main challenges of CRC treatment, and the need for a novel oral colon-targeted drug delivery system (OCDDS). This study reviews the research progress of controlled-release, responsive, magnetic, targeted, and other oral nano-formulations in the direction of CRC treatment, in addition to the advantages of oral colon-targeted nano-formulations and concerns about the oral delivery of related therapeutic agents to inspire related research.

Construction Strategy and Mechanism of a Novel Wood Preservative with Excellent Antifungal Effects

Wood is a naturally porous material prone to microbial erosion and degradation in outdoor environments. Therefore, the development of an environmentally friendly wood preservative with excellent antibacterial effects and low toxicity is urgently needed. In this study, nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (N-CQDs) with excellent antifungal performance and fluorescent properties were synthesized using a one-step hydrothermal method with chitosan quaternary ammonium salt (HACC) as the raw material. The fluorescence characteristics of N-CQD preservatives can help track their position and distribution in wood. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of N-CQDs is 1.8 mg/mL, which was nearly 22 times lower than that of HACC (40.0 mg/mL) in the PDA medium. The decay resistance test demonstrated that wood treated with N-CQDs showed a considerably reduced decay degree and its mass loss rate decreased from 46 ± 0.5% to 3.8 ± 0.5%. Biological transmission electron microscopy revealed that N-CQDs effectively destroyed fungal cell structures, thereby hindering the growth of Coriolus versicolor. N-CQDs synthesized using the one-step hydrothermal method can be used as an efficient wood preservative that can effectively improve the utilization and service life of wood.

Chitosan and Cyclodextrins-Versatile Materials Used to Create Drug Delivery Systems for Gastrointestinal Cancers

Gastrointestinal cancers are characterized by a frequent incidence, a high number of associated deaths, and a tremendous burden on the medical system and patients worldwide. As conventional chemotherapeutic drugs face numerous limitations, researchers started to investigate better alternatives for extending drug efficacy and limiting adverse effects. A remarkably increasing interest has been addressed to chitosan and cyclodextrins, two highly versatile natural carbohydrate materials endowed with unique physicochemical properties. In this respect, numerous studies reported on fabricating various chitosan and cyclodextrin-based formulations that enabled prolonged circulation times, improved cellular internalization of carried drugs, preferential uptake by the targeted cells, reduced side effects, enhanced apoptosis rates, and increased tumor suppression rates. Therefore, this paper aims to briefly present the advantageous properties of these oligo- and polysaccharides for designing drug delivery systems, further focusing the discussion on nanocarrier systems based on chitosan/cyclodextrins for treating different gastrointestinal cancers. Specifically, there are reviewed studies describing promising solutions for colorectal, liver, gastric, pancreatic, and other types of cancers of the digestive system towards creating an updated framework of what concerns anticancer chitosan/cyclodextrin-based drug delivery systems.

Codelivery of CuS and DOX into Deep Tumors with Size and Charge-Switchable PAMAM Dendrimers for Chemo-photothermal Therapy

Accurate targeting of therapeutic agents to specific tumor tissues, especially via deep tumor penetration, has been an effective strategy in cancer treatments. Here, we described a flexible nanoplatform, pH-responsive zwitterionic acylsulfonamide betaine-functionalized fourth-generation PAMAM dendrimers (G4-AB), which presented multiple advantages for chemo-photothermal therapy, including template synthesis of ultrasmall copper sulfide (CuS) nanoparticles and further encapsulation of doxorubicin (DOX) (G4-AB-DOX/CuS), long-circulating performance by a relatively large size and zwitterionic surface in a physiological environment, combined size shrinkage, and charge conversions via pH-responsive behavior in an acidic tumor microenvironment (TME). Accordingly, high tumor penetration and positive cell uptake for CuS and DOX have been determined, which triggered an excellent combination treatment under near-infrared irradiation in comparison to the monochemotherapy system and irresponsive chemo-photothermal system. Our study represented great promise in constructing multifunctional carriers for the effective delivery of photothermal nanoparticles and drugs in chemo-photothermal therapy.

Alginate-based drug carrier systems to target inflammatory bowel disease: A review

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an inflammatory disorder that affects the gastrointestinal tract. IBD has become an increasingly common condition in both developed and developing nations over the last few decades, owing to a variety of factors like a rising population and diets packed with processed and junk foods. While the root pathophysiology of IBD is unknown, treatments are focused on medications aimed to mitigate symptoms. Alginate (AG), a marine-derived polysaccharide, is extensively studied for its biocompatibility, pH sensitivity, and crosslinking nature. This polymer is thoroughly researched in drug delivery systems for IBD treatment, as it is naturally available, non-toxic, cost effective, and can be easily and safely cross-linked with other polymers to form an interconnected network, which helps in controlling the release of drugs over an extended period. There are various types of drug delivery systems developed from AG to deliver therapeutic agents; among them, nanotechnology-based systems and hydrogels are popular due to their ability to facilitate targeted drug delivery, reduce dosage, and increase the therapeutic efficiency. AG-based carrier systems are not only used for the sustained release of drug, but also used in the delivery of siRNA, interleukins, and stem cells for site directed drug delivery and tissue regenerating ability respectively. This review is focussed on pathogenesis and currently studied medications for IBD, AG-based drug delivery systems and their properties for the alleviation of IBD. Moreover, future challenges are also be discoursed to improve the research of AG in the field of biopharmaceuticals and drug delivery.